Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Having rented such a wonderful bicycle for the day, I set out to fully enjoy it. That meant some trail riding, but mostly it meant retracing the routes I commonly took growing up in Ottawa.

Although the paths of my youth would look much different covered in a foot of snow, and some 30 years later, they absolutely succeeded in resurrecting a lot of good memories.

Starting from the far east, the route traces back to itself counter-clockwise. Turns out the route that took me four hours (including a couple of rests) was only 27km long - but it sure felt a lot longer than that. I would equate the workout to doing 60km, full-out, on the road.

Monday, February 18, 2013

I arrived at Phat Moose Cycles with the impression that I had booked a Salsa Mukluk II.I had never been on a fat-tire bicycle before
and to say I was looking forward to it is an understatement.They opened at 10 and I was there for 9:55 in
full gear.

The weather was ideal and although I wouldn't have the time to get to any of
therecommended trails, I had a route
well planned out that would include a variety of challenges.
I was stunned when the two guys at Phat Moose had instead prepared for me
aSalsa Beargrease.Holy cow. It was like getting the ultimate,
free upgrade at Budget Rent a Car.

Friday, February 08, 2013

There's no denying I love a snow day. They really don't happen very often. Can't get to work by car, bicycle or bus.

It bothers me that I haven't managed to get on my bike in days, and this didn't help. Makes me feel like a fair-weather cyclist. However, I plan to get in the home-shop and do some wrenching, and it's certainly a good day for that.

I haven't done any bike-centric posts recently, but hopefully I'll get back to that as well.

Sunday, February 03, 2013

Whisked away to the (even snowier) north this weekend for a retreat of sorts, and as always, on the lookout for signs of the year-round-cyclist. I can't prevent my thoughts from dwelling on the recurring fantasy of carving through the icing sugar forests whenever I am in an environment like this.

I am sentenced to live vicariously through other's BLOGS - which although I appreciate very much - I hope only serve to satiate my yearning until I join the ranks of the fat-tire revolution.

An Ottawa dealership maintains that they cannot keep Pugsleys and Mukluks in stock because of the demand but I have yet to see any evidence of that this winter.

I did find this lonely and abandoned fellow outside the dining hall but given the condition of his rear brake lever I chose not to disturb his winter's sleep.

I certainly have no right to complain when I have this as my fall-back plan though.